


Building Blocks

by Loudest_Voice



Category: Naruto
Genre: Early Childhood, Family, Gen, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-23
Updated: 2012-08-31
Packaged: 2017-11-05 21:23:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/411166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loudest_Voice/pseuds/Loudest_Voice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto must have consciously decided to become ninja at some point, right? Whether they remember or not, these are the first instants they actively want to own a Konoha headband.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sakura

**Author's Note:**

> Part of my AU _The Legend of God's Eyes_ but you don't have to read any of that to understand this story.
> 
> Set eight years before _The Traitor and the Nine Tails_. 
> 
> The characters here are four-year-olds so there are many things they get completely wrong and others that they miss entirely. See end notes for clarifications.

The first time her father takes her along to work, Sakura hates it. Sano ties her to a fence post several feet away from where he and his friends and building a house, grunting about safety under his breath, when Sakura tries to start screaming.

"And I know you don't cry anymore unless you're hurt, which you're not, so _stop_ ," Sano orders with narrowed brown eyes.

"Oi Sano," says one of his younger friends as he cradles the back of his brown haired head with his hand. He's the only one who trailed behind Sano when he decided to tie Sakura away from the work site. "Maybe this isn't right. Kid's not a dog."

"Of course she's not a _dog_!" her father says, glaring up at the blue sky. "I wouldn't have to worry about a _dog_ going after my nails and hammers!"

"There _are_ babysitters," starts his friend.

"So I'll pay some old lady to sit by and read romance novels while she plays with a stick? I don't think so." Sano shakes his head, snorts, and gestures at the tree branches over their head. "There's shade here, I'll bring her water every couple of hours, and she's within earshot." Finally, he looks down at Sakura again. "Yell if you need to go to the bathroom." Before taking off, he passes Sakura a stick and tries to smile.  

Sakura makes sure to scowl and look away, not caring when she hears Sano sighing tiredly. She doesn't move her gaze until she can no longer hear his footsteps. Once she's sure Sano isn't looking her way, Sakura decides that she wants to draw something with her stick after all. She can't because Sano chose a spot covered by healthy green grass. Sakura growls and throws the stupid stick as far as she can, vowing to give Sano the silent treatment until he buys her that porcelain doll on the window of Etsuko's shop. She didn't care if it costs a bajillion _yen._

But until he comes back, she needs to find a way to entertain herself. Sometimes, her mother takes her to their patio so they can look up at the sky and see what the clouds look like. Shio always sees everything from flowers to stars, but Sakura can only see clouds. She tells her mother she sees other things anyway just to make her smile.

Maybe she can learn to see shapes in the clouds today. Then she could stop lying about it, which both Sano and Shio say is a very bad thing to do. Sakura doesn't want to be bad so she decides to look up at the clear summer sky.

The bright green leaves of the tree she's tied to are in the way.

For a moment, Sakura wants to scream. She feels her throat contracting and her eyes filling with tears so she bites her lower lip and glares down at her shoes. She's a big girl now. Only babies cry. Besides, Sano already said he wasn't going to listen to her tears so she might as well look for another way to keep herself busy until lunch. So after taking a deep breath, she looks around for something to play with. Her eyes are drawn to the light brown rope tied around her left ankle.

Now she knows why Sano insisted she wear thick socks even though it's summer. He didn't want her to complain about rope burn, which he said sometimes happened when people tried to work with ropes "naked".  _He meant without gloves,_ Sakura thinks as she bends down to examine the knot more closely. It's hard to focus on it when her mind is buzzing with the new knowledge that adults used words wrong sometimes. What else do they do wrong?

. . . Or maybe the word "naked" means more than one thing? Or maybe a part of someone can be naked while the other part is not. It's something that she'll have to ask Shio later. In the meantime, she shakes her head and tries to remember all the things Sano has taught her about ropes and knots.  

 _First of all, if you get impatient and start pulling on things without thinking, you'll just make things worse,_ she remembers him saying. Sakura makes sure not pull on anything unless she's sure it won't make the knot tighter. She almost _does_ pull at it in a rage a couple of times. Sano's made it look so simple, but it took Sakura a very long time to get the stupid rope away from her ankle.

When finally manages to get it off - well, she made it loose enough to slip her foot out, which is almost _better_ in a way she can't really explain to herself - Sakura has to resist the urge to run to Sano so he can see how smart she is. Sano would probably just be mad. Then he'd drag her over and retie her to the tree with a much more complicated knot. As hard as it was, she'd need to keep her success to herself.

Thankfully, it's easier to sit by the tree with nothing to do when she has a secret. But secrets are bad too. Shio is always telling that only _dishonest_ people keep secrets. Sakura doesn't know what "dishonest" means, but the way Shio's green eyes narrow when she says makes it clear that it's a _bad_ thing. Since she doesn't want to be bad, Sakura sits down by the tree trunk and waits until Sano and his friends finish their work. She'll tell him once she can prove that she can watch him work without getting hurt.

It's hard, though. Sakura doesn't understand why the seconds last so long when she's bored but fly away whenever she's doing anything she likes. _Unfair_ , she thinks as a warm wind pushes her pink bangs in front of her eyes. She start humming her lullaby to herself, hoping that it'll be fun and make time fly.

Just when she gets to her favorite verse, someone _screams_.

Sakura catches a glimpse of one of Sano's friends falling down before her body starts moving. She looks away just as a shadow appears in the middle of her dad's work things and her small legs start carrying her in the opposite direction as fast as they can. Which is not very fast.

 _If you ever hear screams,_ Shio's voice tells her, _run. Run in the opposite direction as with all your strength and don't look back. Do you understand, baby girl? Do you **understand**?_

Sakura understood then and she understands now, but her legs are not long enough. She needs to find people next but they weren't many finished houses at Daddy's work. It's Daddy's job to finish them.

She slips on a rock before she can make out of the street and lands on her knees. She manages to break her fall with the palm of her hands and struggles to her feet before she even catches her breath. The shadows are faster than her. It doesn't matter that her heart is beating so fast she feels it in her throat. Sakura knows the shadows will catch her. Shio was wrong that day. It feels wrong to think her mother was wrong but Sakura knows she was.

Her only hope is to hide and hope the shadows will forget her. Maybe they didn't even notice her. Adults rarely did. The thought gave her limbs enough strength to rush towards one of the empty houses she knows she's not suppose to ever go into alone.

It feels like she's in a ghost house when she passes the threshold. There isn't even a door to keep the shadows out but Sakura decides to ignore that and starts looking for the kitchen. It's hard to say what room is what when there are no tables or chairs and the walls are unpainted, but Sakura looks for the kitchen anyway because it's the best place to hide.

When she finds it, the strength leaves her bones almost before she can crawl under the dusty kitchen sink. She just manages it, ignoring Shio's voice again. She's not supposed to hide under sinks even if she wins at hide-and-seek whenever she does it. She could get sick. But it doesn't matter now. The shadows are more dangerous than being sick.

She makes the mistake of looking down at her palms and almost screams when she sees the blood. A half-gasp comes out and Sakura hopes that it isn't loud as she tries to ignore the sudden stinging pain coming from her hands. It'd be so sad if the shadows saw her with their ears.

For a while, she just huddles under the empty sink trying to keep in terrified sobs. The stinging pain coming from her palms distracts her at first. Then she starts thinking. When will it be safe to come out? How will she get home? Would Sano - the first sob escapes from her throat when she finally works out that her father isn't faster than a shadow. She tries to stop crying but all she can do is reduce her sobs to hiccups.

Then the shadows finally find her.

Sakura does scream when one of them opens the door to the sink even though she knows it won't help. She pushes against the wall, hoping that she can fade into it somehow but, of course, she doesn't. The shadow - it's just a person, she can see that now - reaches out and grabs her calf. His - or her, a strange white mask with red paint hides its face - hand is big enough to wrap all around Sakura's tiny leg. Sakura grabs some rocks lying one the ground - pain from her palms all but forgotten - and throws it at the shadow as it pulls her forward.

"Well fuck," it - _he_ \- says. "Calm down. I'm ANBU. _Konoha_ ANBU. Stop scratching -"

Sakura does her best to kick and scratch but the man is as strong as all grown ups. He's stronger. She feels like she's struggling to move one of the statues at the park near her house. Even the thing he's wearing over his black shirt is a bit like the statues - a cleaner, brighter white.

"Captain?" asks another voice. A woman's voice. Sakura feels better instantly and she doesn't even know why.

"Get her father," says the man holding her and Sakura stills. "No wait," continues the man before pushing Sakura away from his chest and walking over to the masked woman. " _I'll_ get her father.

"No. No!" Sakura cries as the man tries to hand her to the woman. "Don't get my dad," she says to the man, trying to look at his face. She sees only the eerie mask and messy white hair. "Please. I'll be good I promise I won't make a noise I promise." She doesn't want the shadows to get her dad. "Please."

"Geez," says the man, as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black thing.

"Captain," repeats the woman as she set Sakura on the floor. Sakura tries to run but the woman has a strong grip on her shoulder. "She's just a scared little girl."

The captain snorts and brings a black rectangle thing Sakura doesn't recognize to his face. "Hound here," he says into it. "Tell the carpenter we found his daughter and she's hysterical but uninjured. Roger."

"Message received, Captain," responds the black rectangle in a strange, scratchy voice. "Roger."

The captain puts the black rectangle away and his head moves down to stare at Sakura. She can't his his eyes but she bets they're staring into hers. "Don't hurt my dad," she pleads. "He says he's not an important man." Both of her parents say that when they argue after they think Sakura's gone to sleep.

"We're not going to hurt you, kid," says the woman. "We're Konoha's ninja. We're on your side. Now let me see your hands."

Reluctantly, Sakura shows the woman her palms. She's heard her father complaining about _ninja_ before. They steal his business, he says, even though their only job should be to guard Konoha from bandits and outsiders. Her mother seems to like them, though. Sakura tells herself so when she sees the captain bending down to stare at her scraped palms.

"Let me see," he mumbles, reaching for her forearm. Sakura orders herself not to cry. "Wolf, give me your water flask so I can clean them."

"You a healer now?" asks the woman as she passes him a flask.

"Hardly," says the captain, snorting a little. "I can just mend surface wounds if they're not poisoned."

The water burns when it hits her scraped palms but Sakura's determined not to cry again. Even the hiccup that escapes her is a little embarrassing. The woman threads her fingers through her hair in a way that reminds Sakura of Shio's soothing hugs. For some reason, that makes her want to cry more than the water's sting.

"This is going to hurt a little," says the captain, raising a suddenly glowing hand. "But it'll only be for a little while." He covers Sakura's small palm with his large, pale hand.

It _does_ hurt, more than Sakura remembers anything hurting. It's like something is stabbing her with needles on the same spots over and over again. Sakura winces, thinking that the scrapes themselves hurt less. She opens her mouth to tell the captain but the pain vanishes as suddenly as it first appeared. When he lifts his hand, Sakura sees that her palm is as good as new.

"That's amazing!" she says, looking up at the white mask with a bright smile. She feels like she's seeing him for the first time.

"It's nothing," says the captain and, for some reason, the woman chuckles. "Now give me your other hand."

Sakura offers him her other palm after a second of hesitation. Her mother says that pain has good results sometimes and Sakura figures seeing the shadow magic is one of those times. "There," says the captain after Sakura winces. He lifts his big hand and Sakura's other palm is as good as new. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No," says Sakura. And then - "Can you teach me to do that?"

"Sorry kid," he answers, ruffling her hair as he stands up. "Takes years to learn." He turns away and Sakura tries to follow him. The woman holds her back.

"You can learn that," she tells Sakura, "if you become a ninja."

"How do I do that?" Sakura asks her, looking up to stare at the grey marks on her mask.

"The Academy," the woman says with a nod. "They'll teach you. You're a smart, resourceful, brave girl. You could be an excellent ninja."

Sakura smiles and thinks that yes, she will ask her parents about the Academy. She's sure they'll let her go. Who wouldn't want a daughter who knows magic?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Sakura's dad loves her but he's kind of a gruff guy. He's a carpenter (we'd call him a "small business owner" here in the USA right now) and his "friends" are actually his employees.
> 
> 2) Sakura's parents are never really shown in canon (a shame) but Sakura always struck me as a "middle class" (again, American term) kind of girl. Her parents are not rich but they're certainly not hurting financially either. Don't ask Sano, though. He thinks he's a peasant.
> 
> 3) ANBU was after one of Sano's employees because he was a spy. Is there a better way to get intel on Konoha's infrastructure than to work for one of its carpenters?
> 
> 4) Captain Hound is actually Kakashi but of course Sakura's never going to put two and two together. And Kakashi probably put the routine mission right out of his mind after hoping that pink haired girl doesn't get baby PTSD or something.
> 
> 5) (Last, I promise). Naruto wiki tells me that the glowing healing thing (Mystical Palm Technique) is a super rare thing that very few people can do. Honestly, I prefer my headcanon that all ninja with good enough chakra control are taught the basics. Sort of like magic ninja first aid.


	2. Sasuke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Itachi is in this little side thing but I still didn't want to tag the story with his name. This feels like it's only about Sasuke, it's just that it's next to impossible to write about either Uchiha brother without involving the other.

Mother and Father are tense - not really glaring at each other but making sure to act with a lot of politeness, like there are guests in the house who aren't even Uchiha. Sasuke wants to be as perfect as possible during lunch so he doesn't end up being the cause for more unease. If he doesn't spill any broth Father won't notice him at all. And if Father doesn't notice him, he won't be reprimanded for being messy. And if Father doesn't reprimand him, then Mother won't have to defend him. The thick silence around the dining table won't be interrupted because of him.

Carefully, Sasuke grabs a few strings of noodles and then begins to twirl his chopsticks to wrap the thin strips of dough around them. After, he leans down and quickly brings the chopsticks to his mouth. Nothing spills on his clothes or on the table so Sasuke allows himself a private smile. He picks up a piece of shrimp and thinks that he can keep Father and Mother from arguing about _him_ , at least. Once all the noodles and slices of shrimp are gone, he'll be able to grab his bowl and simply drink the left over broth. No danger of making a mess then.

It was Itachi who taught Sasuke how to eat noodles without needing Mother's help. _You must be patient and careful,_ he'd said while using his large hands to position Sasuke's fingers around the chopsticks correctly. _Better to do something slowly than to do it wrong._ He'd taught Sasuke how to grab different kinds of foods with the chopsticks using grass, leaves, rocks, and clumps of dirt of varying textures. It was the most fun lesson Sasuke ever had.

It'd been an _important_ lesson. Before then, Sasuke used to spill his food all over the table so Mother had no choice but to spend most meals cleaning up after him. At first, Father reprimanded him. Mother always came to his defense though, so Father eventually started settling for huffing and leveling Sasuke with disapproving gazes. Sasuke's thankful to Itachi for showing him how not to be a bother.

"I must prepare for my exam," Itachi says suddenly. When Sasuke glances towards him, he's already put his chopsticks by his empty bowl. "Have a good evening," he adds before rising to his feet.

"Brother!" says Sasuke before he can exit the dining room. "I thought you did't have tests anymore." Itachi's a grown up so he doesn't have to go to school.

Itachi smiles before leaning down and reaching out to poke Sasuke's forehead. "It's a different kind of exam," he explains before straightening and walking out of the living room.

"Your brother will attempt to advance in the ranks," says Fugaku after Itachi's gone.

"That means he's really strong, right?" asks Sasuke, turning to look at Father with a bright smile. He wilts a little when he realizes that Fugaku is focused on Mikoto alone. Father rarely notices him.

"It means that he's being a dutiful son and heir," continues Fugaku, still not looking at Sasuke.

"It means that he's under immense pressure," says Mikoto before bringing a white napkin to her lips. "But this subject is not fit for the dinner conversation."

Sasuke frowns and looks down at his food so he doesn't have to see his parents staring at each other with pleasantly blank dark eyes. He tries to find some comfort in the knowledge that they're arguing about _Itachi_ for once, but he can't. Not really. It hurts more when they're tense because Sasuke can't do something right, but Sasuke finds that it's not much better to see them upset about something other than him. He eats his dinner silently and then flees after complementing Mikoto on the meal.

He just has to wait a bit and then his parents will go back to normal. Mikoto will go on teaching him about shuriken and Fugaku will try his best to play _Go_ with him during the nights when someone else is heading the Police Station. Sasuke tells himself that much as he wonders towards his room so he can look for the present he bought for Itachi the last time he went grocery shopping with Mother.

A big bag of seeds to feed birds. Sometimes, when they go to the small park near their compound, Itachi catches doves so Sasuke can pet their soft feathers. Smiling at the memories, Sasuke goes off to Itachi's room, hoping that his brother isn't too busy to talk with him, and starts knocking at his door softly. "Brother!" he calls softly after his knocks are ignored.

"Come in," Itachi says. Sasuke smiles and does so. It's a bit of a secret language they have. He's only supposed to call out for Itachi if neither of their parents are with him.

Itachi's meditating by his windows, legs crossed and dark eyes closed. His bangs, which have been growing longer lately, fall over his face and sway with the wind blowing through the open window. Sasuke stares around the room and takes in the shuriken set laid out next to the basic weapon's pack on Itachi's table. "These are Mother's!" he says, walking forward.

"Don't touch," orders Itachi just as Sasuke starts reaching out for one of the bigger ones.

Sasuke frowns, wishing someone would trust him with _real_ weapons. He's tired of messing around with blunt Academy blades so he glares down at the supple black hiking boots by Itachi's table and decides that there must be a way to prove that he's big enough for real weapons. Father says that Itachi already knew basic shuriken jutsu when he was four.

Maybe he'll be allow to play with real weapons if he can catch Itachi off guard.

Smiling at the idea, Sasuke puts his Itachi's present next to the weapons pack and then starts walking towards his brother while trying to make his footing as light as a cat's. Two small steps later, he remembers that Itachi can hear him breathing so he stops in his tracks. He sucks in a deep breath - like he's about to dunk his head underwater - and then resumes his careful approach. Itachi remains still as a rock even when Sasuke leans over and starts reaching for his forehead.

Before Sasuke's fingers make contact, Itachi's hand is wrapped around his wrist. "Better than before," Itachi says without opening his eyes. Then he smiles and pokes Sasuke's forehead with his other hand. "The trick is to breathe evenly, not to stop breathing altogether." Sasuke takes his hand back and glares. Or tries to anyway. Itachi just chuckles and shakes his head. "I really do need to prepare for my exam."

"Will it be hard?" asks Sasuke, remembering Mother's comment about Itachi and pressure.

"I don't know if the exam itself will be hard," answers Itachi. "It's what comes after that I'm . . ."

"You'll be amazing!" Sasuke says, wanting to get rid of the worry he hears in Itachi's voice. "Father believes in you." _Like he doesn't believe in me,_ Sasuke doesn't add.

Itachi smiles again and then motions Sasuke to sit beside him. "After this test," he starts after Sasuke has complied, "I'll have very little spare time."

"But you don't have time _now_ ," complains Sasuke.

"I may be gone for days - maybe _weeks_ \- at a time," Itachi continues, looking down at Sasuke with furrowed eyebrows. Sasuke notices that there are lines starting to form under Itachi's eyes that look just like Father's.

"That's not fair!" Sasuke says and he doesn't even know whether he's talking about Itachi being gone more often or about Itachi looking so much like Father.

"There isn't much about life that's fair . . ." Itachi mumbles, momentarily looking away from Sasuke. "My becoming a chunin so early will have its advantages," he says as he turns his dark eyes back towards Sasuke, "but . . ."

"You don't want to be a chunin?" Sasuke asks, surprised. He doesn't understand the details about genin and chunin, but Father sounds so proud of Itachi for just being _considered_ for promotion. It doesn't make sense that Itachi doesn't want to be promoted.

"I . . ." Itachi looks like he feels the same as Sasuke feels when Father looks at him with disapproval. Like he wishes he could become invisible or disappear.

"What _do_ you want to be, then?" Sasuke doesn't know what to think about the conversation. Everyone _wants_ to be a ninja, right? Why wouldn't _Itachi_ want to, especially since he's so good at it?

"I don't know what I _want_ to be," says Itachi, sighing. "Sometimes, I wonder what I would be doing if I . . . if I was someone else."

It's a scary and shameful, but for a second Sasuke thinks that maybe Father wouldn't be so upset with him all the time if there was no Itachi to compare him to. "Then you wouldn't be - " _my brother_ " - you." 

"Yes," says Itachi with a short, low laugh. "That's what I just said."

"I like that you're you," Sasuke tells him. Because it's _true_.

Itachi smiles and leans down until their foreheads bump. "I'm glad."

The words make Sasuke's belly squeeze into itself with guilt. Itachi would be so hurt if he knew Sasuke had wished -even for a _second_ \- that they weren't brothers and it's not his fault that Father loves him better. Sasuke should be a better brother. "Are you sad because of pressure?" he asks.

"Pressure?" repeats Itachi.

"Mother says that you're under immense pressure," says Sasuke. "I don't think I know what that means."

"She's referring to the hardships of shinobi life," explains Itachi. "And I suppose I am. It can't be helped."

Suddenly, Sasuke knows how he can make up for wishing Itachi was someone else. "When I become a ninja," he starts, "I'll take some of your pressure for me. Then you can go play at being someone else or a while." Sasuke wishes he could go to the Academy right that second and become a genin just so he can ask Hokage-sama to give Itachi a vacation.

"You . . ." Itachi trails off before abruptly rising to his feet. "Thank you, Sasuke," he says, walking towards his desk. "I must continue preparing for my exam. Please close my door behind you."

Wondering if maybe he didn't say something wrong, Sasuke scrambles to his feet and hurries out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) So the Naruto wiki tells me that Itachi made chunin at age ten. We'll say Itachi just turned ten and that Sasuke's about to turn five.


	3. Naruto

The teacher looks like she swallowed something nasty whenever she glances at Naruto.

At first Naruto thought that she always looked liked that, but now he knows that her eyes soften every time she looks at the other students. Any of the other students; even Kou, who always has a thin string of snot hanging off at least one of his nostrils. Naruto doesn't understand how he's more gross than that. He decides to work harder so the teacher will stop being mad at him and doubles his efforts with the glue and red construction she gave them all.

"Hey, I did mine's already!" he yells after staring down at his paper for a really long time. The teacher's back tenses at the sound of his voice. "Don't you wanna come and see?"

She hesitates before turning towards his desk (at the furthermost corner of the classroom, away from the other children) then walks forward. When her purple eyes fix on his messy heart, she frowns. "You were supposed to make a circle."

"Circles're boring," Naruto tells her. "Hearts are better and harder to do right anyway."

A little girl sitting only a few strides away from Naruto looks up. "I wanna make a heart too!" Her words make other students speak up.

" _I_ wanna make a shuriken!"

"A horsie!"

"Cats!"

Even though none of them are looking at him in particular, Naruto still feels like they're on his side. He beams at the teacher.

Her purple eyes narrow before she reaches down for Naruto's heart, ripping it into two pieces and crumpling both under her fists. "Make a _circle,_ " she orders. "Or just sit there and do _nothing._ I don't want you riling up my students."

When she turns around, Naruto wants to remind her that _he's_ her student too. He might've if something hadn't gotten stuck in his throat.

Maybe the heart was a stupid idea. Naruto looks down at his construction paper, bites his lower lip, and then begins to fold a circle in the center. It's a little difficult, but he thinks that if he tears off pieces one by one, he'll be able to get a good one. He can make a square first - a little bigger than he wants his circle - then go from there.

It'd be easier if he had a plastic pair of scissors, but the teacher refused to give him one. "You'll hurt ot - _yourself_ ," she'd explained before pushing Naruto to his lonely little corner.

Naruto wants to convince her that he wouldn't, so he's been trying really hard not to be messy. He follows her instructions as much as he can even though she refuses to sit next to him and help him when he gets stuck. And the homework . . . Naruto doesn't know how to do it. The instructions are written in small characters he can't read yet. He's tried asking the teacher for help but she just scrunches her nose and says the homework isn't her responsibility.

Naruto sees her helping the other kids with _their_ homework sometimes. He also sees her talking to parents, telling them what their kids are having trouble with. Naruto wonders who she's supposed to tell if _he_ has trouble with anything. Maybe no one.

Even though he's careful, the circle doesn't take him very long to complete. The edge is smooth enough considering he had to tear off paper with his fingers, so he tries to call the teacher over with another smile.

She pretends not to hear him.

Naruto feels his eyes stinging so he lays his head on the table. Kou started to cry yesterday and a bunch of other kids started laughing and laughing, which made him cry even harder. Besides, Naruto knows he'll be more upset later if he has to remember that the teacher saw him in tears. He waits until his eyes are dry before looking up to search for one of his classmates' faces.

The little girl who asked for permission to cut out a heart of her own catches his eyes first. She begins to smile, then probably remembers that the teacher doesn't want anyone to talk to Naruto and looks away. Naruto wants to cringe and disappear, but he's _not_ going to give up. He stares at the girl until she slowly looks back at him.

Naruto grins and tears his circle in half, messes around with it until it's folded into a semblance of a heart, and nods at the girl.

 _You can do it too!_ he mouths at her. If he says it out loud, the teacher will turn around and yell at him but maybe the girl can read lips.

Either way, the girl grins and tears her half-cut circle in half, looking at Naruto for guidance the whole time.

Then the boy sitting next to her catches what she's doing and decides that it looks fun. He starts tearing his red construction paper, though Naruto notices that he wants to fold it into something other than a heart right away. The boy grins at the girl, then and at Naruto when she gestures towards him.

Naruto feels his chest expanding, so he barely notices when all the other kids start tearing their circles, laughing and talking all at once. They start talking about what they want to make - their favorite animals, flowers for their moms, stars - when the teacher sort of _growls_.

Naruto knows she's looking at him right away.

It's like she decides to make an example out of him. She doesn't actually _say_ anything, just strides forward and grabs a hold of the edges of Naruto's desk, twists it around until Naruto's facing the wall with her normally pretty face twisted into an ugly scowl.

The rest of the kids fall silent while Naruto stares at the yellow wall in front of him. Through a strange ringing in his ears, he hears the teacher tell the rest of the class to gather their construction paper because they all have to start again. She doesn't even sound mad.

Naruto doesn't cry at school. He's proud of that. He doesn't cry the next day either, or the day after that. The third day is when he works up the courage to actually _do_ something.

By then he knows the teacher won't ever look at him with anything other than hate, but the memory of the girl's smile keeps him going. He can make the other kids like him. All he has to do is help them have fun.

When everyone's out for lunch time, he sneaks back into the their classroom (easy to do since everyone's ignoring him). He walks towards the teacher's desk and steals the key to the cabinet with all the glue and bags of tiny pieces of glitter. The kids like the glitter, so much so that the teacher promises to reward them with it if they all behave for long enough.

His plan is to glue a layer of golden glitter on all his classmates' desks, but that turns out to be way more difficult than he thought it'd be. The glitter tends to clump with the milky glue in uneven bits, for starters. Frowning, he decides to do it without it and start to pour glitter on all the desk. Some of it rises like dust and tickles his face, which is both fun and annoying. Mostly fun though, especially after staring at a wall for days.

The look on the teacher's face when she finds him is both satisfying and scary. Satisfying because she's finally looking at him and scary because there's a vein in her forehead trying to pop out. She grabs Naruto's arm and pulls him out of the classroom while his classmates rush in and hurry towards their desks with excited grins. Naruto makes sure to smile though he knows he's in big trouble. She pushes him into an empty office and slams the door shut.

It's an office he's never been in before and it looks like no one really uses it. There's a table, but it's empty of the scrolls and notebooks grownups love so much. There's only one chair but Naruto doesn't think he should sit on it. He arranges himself on the floor and stares up at the room's only window, thinking that the old dust on the yellow walls tickles his nose almost as badly as the glitter had. If the teacher doesn't come back for him soon, Naruto's going to get out somehow and . . . and . . .

He's going to get out and _do_ something.

But he's grateful when he hears footsteps because he doesn't actually _want_ to go through all that trouble. He feels like he's digging a hole to get out of somewhere, but only because he has no idea what else to do.

He's happy that it's not the teacher who opens he door, but the Old Man in the white robe who comes to his house everyone once in a while. "Come on, Naruto," he says, looking down at him with his wrinkles looking deeper than usual.

Naruto scrambles to his feet, words rushing to his mouth. The teacher - she's standing right next to the Old Man with wet eyes - interrupts him. "You can't strip me of my job because I've protected my students from _it_ \- "

"Your students don't feel like you've protected them from anything," says the Old Man, reaching for Naruto's arm.

"He's a bad _influence!_ " yells the teacher. "He puts ideas in their heads."

Naruto doesn't. He just pays attention, tries to figure out what they want, then gives does his best to give it to them or show them how to get it.

"He's tricked them into liking sparkles?" the Old Man says. Naruto can tell he's unimpressed.

"He . . ." The teacher gasps and scowls down and Naruto. "It killed my _son_."

"I _didn't_!" Naruto doesn't even _know_ her son. Why would he _say_ that?

It must make the Old Man upset too, because suddenly one of the masked ninja that always follow him around shows up and drags the teacher away. She tries to make a noise but the masked ninja does something to her neck and she passes out. The last thing Naruto sees on her eyes is hate. She doesn't take her eyes off him.

"She's a _liar_ ," Naruto tells the Old Man.

"I'll see that you get a more . . . professional teacher," says the Old Man, squeezing Naruto's hand.

"How?"

"I'm Hokage," the Old Man says with a sigh. "It's my responsibility to keep things like this from happening."

And suddenly, Naruto knows what he must do. "Then I'm going to be a Hokage too."

Before pulling Naruto away, the Old Man snorts. "It's an overrated job, you'll learn."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this during study breaks so I'm sorry if it reads all disjointed.
> 
> 1) I always thought that Naruto's problems in school weren't entirely his fault. It's difficult for children to learn without involved parents or teachers.
> 
> 2) I'd finished this by the time I realize I didn't give Naruto's teacher or classmates names. Oops.
> 
> 3) I assume that ninja saw to Naruto's well-fare until he was old enough to "take care of himself."
> 
> 4) This is officially the first multi-chaptered story I finish on this site!


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